The Teacher Institute's own food and entertainment maven takes us on a whirlwind tour of our golden city. Find out about the cheapest eats, the best place to see Art Deco or to go kayaking, and where to get insulted while you get your sandwich. These are Modesto's opinions; they don't represent the Exploratorium or its funders.

Want to get off the grid but think it’s just too expensive? UCB's Dr. Jeff Grossman explains how nanotechnology may be used to make solar panels cheaper. We’ll also hear from philosopher Patrick Lin of the Nanoethics Group about ethical dilemmas that crop up when we try to improve our lives through nanotechnology.

Julia Moore and Evan Michelson of the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars talk about nanotechnology products they’ve found for sale in a variety of stores. Should these products have some sort of special label? Journalist Philip Ball also weighs in on the controversy.

Dr. Jim Tour, a chemist at Rice University, builds the world’s smallest vehicles. He calls them “nanocars,” and he thinks these tiny vehicles might lead to nano-sized factories. We’ll also hear from University of Florida graduate student Diane Hickey, who will tell us some of the interesting reactions she’s run into when explaining nanotechnology.

PETER WHITEHEAD is an instrument builder, performer, and composer. His singular instruments, often based on folk instruments from around the world, feature unusual found materials.
Among his many instruments are the Heart Banjo, made from a baking tin; the Lawn Lyre, made from an old lawnmower and a metal oil pan; and the Spoonharp, made from a five-gallon metal drum, a eucalyptus branch, and kitchen spoons.
Originally from England, Whitehead is now based in the San Francisco Bay Area. Founding member of the Mobius Operandi performance group, he also performs regularly with Closer To Carbon, an improvisational trio.

Join us as we speak with IBM Fellow Dr. Don Eigler, who first used a scanning tunneling microscope to demonstrate the ability to build structures at the atomic level by spelling “I-B-M” with individual atoms. Also, meet Tom Rockwell, Director of Public Exhibition at the Exploratorium, who describes, in an audio essay, how he imagines the land of the very small.

Dr. Stephen H. Schneider joins us to discuss climate change. Dr. Schneider was honored in 1992 with a MacArthur Fellowship for his ability to integrate and interpret the results of global climate research through public lectures, seminars, classroom teaching, and research collaboration with colleagues.

Join us as we talk to South Pole scientists about Ice Cube, a major new telescope being built deep below the surface to detect ghostly neutrino particles. The neutrino telescope will use thousands of detectors spread over a square kilometer of ice below the South Pole to study cosmological mysteries such as black holes, gamma ray bursts, and the remnants of supernova explosions.

Webcasts made possible through the generosity of the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation, the Jim Clark Endowment for Internet Education, the McBean Family Foundation.

Bandwidth and infrastructure support for connectivity to the California Research and Education Network and to other Internet2-connected networks provided by the Corporation for Educational Networks Initiatives in California (CENIC).